A blog about the Washington Capitals

After an underwhelming and morale-depleting two-game road trip in the state of Florida, the Washington Capitals were back at Kettler Capitals Iceplex today, but the big news of the day (if you can really call it that) was made by players who took no part in the back-to-back defeats to the Lightning and Panthers.

Mike Green skated for the third day in a row and says he’s on or ahead of schedule to return from abdominal surgery. Talking to the assembled media, Green said:

“It’s comforting now that it’s fixed and I can tell right away. It’s just a matter of getting back in shape this healing up and I’ll be ready to go.”

Green, 26, is still in the early stages of his recovery but is “on the right path” and said he’s been able to feel an improvement already.

“Absolutely,” Green said. “About a week to 10 days after, I could feel the muscle actually firing and being able to move a lot better.”

This is very good news for down the road, and it’s nice to hear Green sounding so upbeat vis-a-vis his recovery. It’s particularly noteworthy given his comments before his attempted comeback in late December, when he said of his lingering groin injury: “I think I’m going to have to be cognizant of this for the rest of my career, probably.” If the Caps can get a sense of just how stable Green’s innards are before the season ends — whether in the first week of April or beyond — it will make the team’s approach to the defenseman’s pending restricted free agency all the more clear.

Meanwhile, Dale Hunter offered a non-update update on the status of in-the-wind center Nicklas Backstrom, who hasn’t been seen or heard from since he did five minutes of feather-lite skating nearly two weeks ago: “He’s feeling better, so it’s just procedure where you have to go through, and it just takes time,” Hunter said in what sounded an awful lot like English. It was something of a muddled response, leaving unclear exactly what stage of the “procedure” Backstrom finds himself in, and what exactly it is he has to go through. It’s hard to put too much stock in his “feeling better” too, considering George McPhee said very much the same thing on Jan. 17. At that time, Backstrom was “progressing,” so in just over two weeks, not much has changed. That’s the nature of concussions; nobody really knows for sure just how long a recovery is going to take, and unless and until Backstrom is seen skating — or at this point, even spotted at KCI or Verizon Center — he remains an unknown quantity, and Rene Bourque remains a marked man.

Speaking of which, Joel Rechlicz, he of the $525,000 contract and (hey, will you look at that) 5:25 of ice time, said this about potentially meeting Bourque in Saturday’s matinee in Montreal: “I heard it was a cheap shot. Hopefully I’ll be in the lineup for that game.” On opponents not wanting to indulge him in fisticuffs, Rechlicz told Steve Whyno: “Then I’m just going to go get my checks and if I’ve got to run a guy through the glass and force them to fight, that’s what you’ve got to do. ” It’s tough talk, but let’s be honest: It takes two to dance, and we saw Rechlicz do his best vestigial tail impression in Florida when he tried unsuccessfully to get Krys Barch to engage him. He spent the rest of the game all but stapled to the bench.

It’s only been two games, but there’s no reason for us to think that Joel Rechlicz a) has something positive to contribute to this team, and b) will even have the opportunity to prove us wrong. And his presence diminished the ice time of Cody Eakin and Joel Ward and shortened an already short bench. The signing of a single-function goon while the Caps are already dysfunctional is absurd.

In other roster news, Keith Aucoin has been recalled from Hershey, criss-crossing Cody Eakin, headed back to the AHL, in I-83. The news sparked a flurry of retrospective stories from a previous Aucoin recall, and damn if it doesn’t get a bit misty when reading some of the names from that 2008-09 Caps roster. Oh Sergei…

In other AHL roster news, the Caps swapped minor-leaguers, which as about as much to do with the current lineup’s predicment as the news that the Nationals signed a pitcher today. For the record, according to Mike Vogel: “Caps swing a pair of minor deals: F Matt Ford to Philly for D Kevin Marshall and D Danny Richmond to Colorado for C Mike Carman.”

There are no must-win games in February. There are no must-win games in February. Say it with me now: There. Are. No. Must. Win. Games. In. February.

But there are games you surely the fuck need to show up for, and almost to a man, this wasn’t one of them for the Washington Capitals, who now sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. They fell to a thoroughly unimpressive Florida team who came into the evening having won just 7 of their last 21. Unfortunately, the Capitals are even less impressive at the moment, something that has become inescapably true of late.

This was an anonymous effort, one punctuated by only flickers of the vigor, enthusiasm and talent that buffeted the Capitals through Bruce Boudreau’s four-plus seasons.

Who is Joel Rechlicz? He skated 2:37 tonight, giving him a grand total of 4:26 in the past 120 minutes of professional hockey. Where oh where is Joel Ward? He continues to reside in Dale Hunter’s dog park, skating 6:18 tonight, pushing his total up to 13:55 tonight and last. Cody Eakin: 6:03 tonight and 12:16 combined.

(Parenthetically, Alex Semin, meanwhile, seems content to ride out his Washington tenure by collecting a paycheck and occasionally telegraphing wrist shots. At least he stayed out of the box.)

This isn’t meant to be a slam on the fourth line; rather, what in Dale Hunter’s coaching background tells him it’s wise to tax your top three lines so extensively during a back-to-back stretch? Those being taxed at exorbitant levels tonight: Matt Hendricks skated 17:05 to go along with Jason Chimera’s 15:48. Marcus Johansson skated more than 20 minutes. This was a team that surrendered two crushing goals Mikael Samuelsson — courtesy of Michal Neuvirth — and couldn’t muster a response. They looked tired, and as much as that’s the nature of the road back-to-backs, Dale Hunter simply isn’t doing enough to rotate his players. Shots were 38-28 in favor of Florida, including 14-10 in a third period that started even at 1-1. In the case of Rechlicz, it’s no stretch to say he would have done just as well by dressing 17 skaters and a broomstick.

So, where do we go from here? Alex Ovechkin returns Saturday in Montreal. But unless he feels like showing his 2005-10 form, it won’t be near enough to rescue a team that looks, well, unrecognizable.

On a pleasant note, John Carlson played almost 25 minutes, scored a goal and finished even, despite taking a really poorly-timed penalty that nullified a Washington power play. Hang in there, 74.

The Caps are in one-game-at-a-time territory, as they have been for weeks now, perhaps since before Hunter replaced Boudreau. Win in Montreal and you finish the road trip with 3 of a possible 6 points, which would be fantastic, as Japers’ noted. Even more so considering the circumstances. But isolated victories here and there aren’t enough: Unless this team discovers its identity, and fast, the wins won’t come with enough frequency to matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Vincent Lecavalier really doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being an antagonistic, clutching dirtball of a hockey player. So to see him staring at the rafters in dismay after Tomas Vokoun’s overtime in-your-facery, in which the goaltender’s glove somehow managed to gobble up Lecavalier’s knuckler of a potential, game-winner, was a minimally satisfying, penultimate act in an otherwise sloppily-played, post-All Star break loss in Tampa. Lecavalier did figure prominently in the scoring, however, even though you won’t see his name on the scoresheet tonight. In the second period of a 1-1 game, with the puck coming through the neutral zone toward the Washington end, Lecavalier entered the zone with Roman Hamrlik in front of him before ever-so-insidiously sticking out his left foot, causing THE HAMR to tumble clumsily, paving the way for a Marty St. Louis breakaway, which gave the Lightning their first lead at 1:05. The play wasn’t whistled, neither for offsides (which Lecavalier almost certainly was) or interference, for which a case could certainly have been made. Bollocks.The Caps played what you would have to consider a solid road game, given that the already Rechlicz’d roster is still short a suspended Russian, not to mention a concussed Swede, both of whom, it needs not be said, are missed dearly. (Mike Green might as well be a unicorn at this point.) The line that carried the water tonight saw Brooks Laich skating between Matt Hendricks and Troy Brouwer. The trio got the Capitals on the board first, as Laich’s pass navigated a prone Matt Gilroy and found Hendricks in the slot, who promptly whiffed on the open shot attempt.

But the Ol’ Wagonmaker himself managed to regain possession of the puck before spinning around a firing a backhander top shelf passed an unsuspecting Mathieu Garon at 16:55 of the first period. It would not last long, as Steve Downie took advantage of a negligent Hamrlik, using the acres of space the backpedaling defenseman afforded him to find Teddy Purcell far post for a tap in moments later. You could watch the replay and find fault with all three of Hamrlik, John Carlson — who slid to pick up a driving Lightning forward going to the net instead of Purcell on the post — and a tardy back-checking Mathieu Perreault. Nate Thompson made it 3-1 at 10:59 of the second period before the Caps answered with a fluky unassisted goal by Perreault that found its way past Garon from behind the net, ricocheting off a Tampa defender’s stick. It was needed, and from there, the Caps were able to carry play for long stretches. Troy Brouwer tied the game at 3 at 5:53 of the third period after a piece of tenacious (and perhaps punishable) forechecking by Laich forced a Gilroy turnover in the high slot. Brouwer made no mistake, scoring his 15th of the season.

Tampa carried the play in overtime and should have ended things when Vokoun (27 saves) robbed Lecavalier at the goal line; on the ensuing shift, Steven Stamkos and his mullet collected a St. Louis rebound and kept the Capitals from escaping with two points.

It’s difficult to feel anything but zen about earning a point in a game when you’re without the three best skaters on the roster; on the road in the first game after a week-long layoff, it’ll do. And hey, for the first time in 2012 games, the Caps had more scoring chances than their opponent, per Neil Greenberg. The last time that happened: Dec. 31 in Columbus. For a team that’s been as underwhelming on the road as these Capitals, it’s something. So it’s on to Florida tomorrow night. There’s no such thing as a must-win game in February, so I won’t even go there. But with such a road-heavy schedule coming up in the next three dozen games, every single point matters, and to take two off the team we’re most likely going to have to bludgeon to death in order to win the Southeast Division in order to even make the playoffs, taking two (out of two, please) would be most excellent.

Blood-boiling number of the night: 1, the number of game jerseys assigned to the newly-signed and recalled Joel Rechlicz, who skated two shifts, both in the first period, for a grand total of 1:49. UNLEASH THE BEAGLE.